Austria, Germany and Belgium recycled the largest proportion of municipal waste in Europe in 2010. Although some countries have rapidly increased recycling rates, Europe is still wasting vast quantities of valuable resources by sending them to landfill, and many countries risk falling short of legally binding recycling targets.

This figure identifies the net emission in CO2 equivalents for the treatment of 1 tonne of kitchen and garden waste for each of the 5 treatment options: landfilling, incineration, composting, home composting and anaerobic digestion. The average EU treatment mix in 2008 is also included.